itch.io

If there was a like button I'd use it fit your post. Very much this.

I only recently found this site and I honestly wasn't expecting much from free games, but this one has really surprised me in the best of ways. I've played plenty of dating sims/visual novels/otome games and this is the first and only one that felt this rewarding. Most of the time you have the childhood friend trope and are expected to suspend your disbelief and just accept that you have some shared history that you really have no knowledge of but with this one you make those memories first and so the experience is more immersive and feels more natural and real and the relationships feel truly earned. I really appreciate that. Also that it's inclusive and includes more than the typical boy/girl dynamic. On a more personal note, having grown up partially in a small beach town myself I really related to some things that happened like collecting things you find on the beach, making sand castles, just enjoying the day, even a cute one where you're trying to find loose change to get ice cream is something I experienced with friends and my sister as a kid. But anyway this game feels under appreciated over all. It's a really beautiful game and deserves all the credit it can get.